Delhi High Court Directs Social Media Platforms To Remove Video Recording Of Court Proceedings Concerning Arvind Kejriwal

The Delhi High Court on Saturday directed various social media platforms to take remove audio or video recording of court proceedings when Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addressed the court personally after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged liquor policy scam.

A division bench comprising of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna and Justice Amit Sharma issued notice on a PIL against Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal and various others for allegedly violating the Video Conferencing Rules.

The PIL has been moved by a Delhi based lawyer, Vaibhav Singh. He alleges that Chief Minister's wife, and others namely Akshay Malhotra, X user Nagrik-India Jeetega, Promila Gupta, Vineeta Jain and Dr. Arunesh Kumar Yadav, willfully and deliberately disobeyed the Video Conferencing Rules notified by the Delhi High Court.

The court observed that prima facie the court proceeding recording is violative of Rule 3(vi) of Delhi High Court Video Conferencing Rules, 2021 and cannot be permitted to remain in public domain.

“The Social Media platforms namely X (formerly „Twitter‟), Meta (formerly „Facebook‟), Instagram and YouTube are hereby directed to remove forthwith the audio/video recording from their respective platforms,” the court said.

It directed the platforms to also ensure that the audio or videos are not reuploaded on their platform till further orders.

The matter will now be heard on July 09.

The plea seeks formation of an SIT to investigate and register FIR against those who conspired to record and share the audio and video of the court proceedings and putting the life of the trial court judge at high risk.

“Several members of the Aam Aadmi Party including members of various other opposition parties have intentionally and deliberately and with willful intention to malign and manipulate the court proceedings done the audio and video recording of the court proceedings and circulated on social media platforms,” the plea states.

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested in the money laundering case connected to the alleged liquor policy scam on March 21.

The plea alleges that there was a preplanned conspiracy to record the audio or video recording of the court proceedings hatched by Arvind Kejriwal and his party members.

The petition seeks a thorough investigation to identify the individuals responsible for allegedly recording and sharing audio and video recordings of the court proceedings.

“Punish the alleged contemnor as per the provisions of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, and impose strict penalties on the individuals found guilty of violation of VC Rules 2021 of this Hon'ble Court, as per the provisions specified in law,” another prayer reads.

Furthermore, the plea also seeks issuance of directions to social media platforms to prevent the recurrence of such unauthorized recordings and their subsequent dissemination and impose penalties for non-compliance of directions on any individual or entity.

Title: Vaibhav Singh Sunita Kejriwal & Ors.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 724

click here to read order